TWI697290B - Temperature measuring system - Google Patents

Abstract

A temperature measuring system for measuring the temperatures of multiple heating elements of an aerosol-generating system is disclosed. The heating elements are configured to heat an aerosol-generating source deposited in an elongated cavity. The temperature measuring system includes a temperature measuring device. The temperature measuring device includes an elongated carrier and multiple thermal sensors. The thermal sensors are arranged in the elongated carrier. Each thermal sensor includes a sensing portion. The sensing portions of the thermal sensors are exposed and separately distributed on the outer surface of the elongated carrier along the longitudinal direction thereof.

Description

Temperature measurement system

The present disclosure relates to a temperature measurement system, especially a temperature measurement system applied to a smoke generating device.

When a cigarette is burning, harmful substances will be produced when the temperature of the cigarette rises to a high temperature of 500°C to 900°C. An electronic smoke generating device (such as an electronic cigarette) can use an electronic heating module to directly heat a smoke generating source (such as a cigarette) to generate smoke. In some cases, the electronic heating module is configured to maintain the temperature of the smoke generating source at an ideal temperature range sufficient to emit a smell without burning, so as to prevent the smoke generating source from generating harmful substances.

In the production process of some electronic smoke generating devices, the effective energy measurement of the electronic heating module can be performed. In some examples, when measuring the performance of the electronic heating module, the electronic heating module can be used to heat the cigarette, and the degree of carbonization of the cigarette can be observed visually to determine the performance of the electronic heating module .

However, the use of cigarettes as measurement consumables can easily cause air pollution. In addition, the measurement process also involves human observation, which makes the measurement results vary from person to person. In this way, it is not only impossible to quantify the measurement standard, but also difficult to digitize the measurement result.

The present disclosure provides a temperature measuring system for measuring the temperature of a plurality of heating elements spaced apart from each other in a smoke generating device. The heating element is used for heating a smoke generating source contained in a long cavity. The system includes a temperature measuring device. The temperature measuring device includes a The long carrier inserted in the long cavity and a plurality of thermal sensors are assembled. The thermal sensor is disposed on the long carrier, and each has a sensing end, and the sensing end is exposed on the outer surface of the long carrier, and is located on the outer surface of the long carrier. Spaced from each other in the length direction. When the temperature measuring device is inserted in the elongated chamber, the sensing ends of the thermal sensor respectively correspond to the heating element of the smoke generating device.

Continuing from the above, when the temperature measuring device is inserted into the long chamber, the sensing ends of the thermal sensor respectively correspond to the heating element of the smoke generating device, In this way, when the heating element is heating, the sensing signal generated by the thermal sensor can be used to determine the effectiveness of the smoke generating device.

110: Temperature measurement system

111: Temperature measuring device

112: Router

113: Processing Unit

114: User output unit

115: storage unit

116: display unit

120: Smoke generating device

121: Long chamber

2: Temperature measuring device

21: Assemble the box

22: Long load

23: Thermal conductive sheet

24: signal converter

25: Communication module

26: User input and output unit

261: switch

262: LED module

263: display screen

27: Thermal sensor

31: Long load

311: Chamber

312: Through hole

32: Thermal sensor

321: sensing end

322: wire

33: Thermal conductive sheet

41: Long load

42: Thermal conductive sheet

43: Smoke generating device

431: Long Chamber

432: heating element

51: Scanning device

52: Temperature measuring device

53: processing unit

6: Software interface

61: Image

62: Temperature graph

621: Curve

S501~S509: Program

81: Long load

811: long slot

82: Thermal sensor

821: sensing tip

83: thermal conductive sheet

In order to understand the features described above in this case carefully, a more specific description of the above case can be provided with reference to the implementation aspects. Some implementation aspects are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. However, it should be noted that the accompanying drawings only illustrate the typical implementation aspects of this case and are therefore not regarded as limiting the scope of this case, because this case may recognize other equivalent implementation aspects.

Figure 1 shows a component block diagram of a temperature measurement system and a plurality of smoke generating devices according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; Figure 2A and Figure 2B show a temperature measurement device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure ; Figure 3 shows a long carrier, a thermal sensor, and a heating sheet according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; Figure 4 shows a long carrier, a heating sheet according to some embodiments of the present disclosure And smoke generating devices; Figure 5 shows a temperature measurement method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; Figure 6 shows a software interface according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; The determination conditions executed in the temperature measurement method of some embodiments of the embodiment; and 8A and 8B illustrate a long carrier, a thermal sensor, and a heating plate according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

The following description will refer to the accompanying drawings to more fully describe the present disclosure. The drawings show exemplary embodiments of the disclosure. However, the present disclosure can be implemented in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the exemplary embodiments set forth herein. These exemplary embodiments are provided to make the present disclosure thorough and complete, and to fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art. Similar reference numerals indicate the same or similar elements.

The terminology used herein is only used for the purpose of describing specific exemplary embodiments, and is not intended to limit the present disclosure. As used herein, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to also include the plural forms. In addition, when used herein, "includes" and/or "includes" or "includes" and/or "includes" or "has" and/or "has", integers, steps, operations, elements and/or components , But does not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, components and/or groups thereof.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. In addition, unless clearly defined in the context, terms such as those defined in a general dictionary should be interpreted as having meanings consistent with their meanings in the related art and the present disclosure, and will not be interpreted as idealized or overly formal meanings.

The following content will describe exemplary embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the elements depicted in the reference drawings are not necessarily shown to scale; and the same or similar elements will be given the same or similar reference numerals or similar technical terms.

Hereinafter, reference will be made to related drawings, in which the same elements will be described with the same reference signs.

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary operation scenario of a temperature measurement system 110 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, which includes a block diagram of the components of the temperature measurement system 110 and a plurality of smoke generating devices 120. In other operating environments, the number and appearance of the smoke generating devices 120 connected to the temperature measurement system 110 are not limited to the content disclosed in FIG. 1. In this exemplary operation scenario, the temperature measurement system includes two temperature measurement devices 111, a router 112, a processing unit 113, a display unit 114, and a storage unit 115. The two smoke generating devices 120 respectively have a long cavity 121 for the temperature measuring device 111 to be inserted. When the two temperature measuring devices 111 are respectively inserted into the two smoke generating devices 120, in addition to other functions, the temperature measuring device 111 is configured to collect and indicate the temperature of the heating element of the smoke generating device 120. The sensor signal is digitized and sent to the processing unit 113 through the router 112. In other implementations, the sensing signal collected by the temperature measuring device 111 may be digitized and transmitted to the processing unit 113 in a wired manner, and the router 11 may be omitted. In other embodiments, the processing unit 113 and the storage unit 115 may be the same hardware.

In this embodiment, the processing unit 113 may be composed of one or more hardware or software. In this embodiment, the processing unit 113 includes a server. In this embodiment, the processing unit 113 is configured to determine whether the temperature of each heating element is within a plurality of predetermined temperature intervals at a plurality of time points according to the digitized sensing signal, so as to determine The efficiency of the heating element (not shown in the figure) of the smoke generating device 120 is stored in the storage unit 115. In other embodiments, the processing unit 53 may be configured to determine whether the temperature of each heating element is within a predetermined temperature range at a time point according to the digitized sensing signal. It is worth noting that, in order to obtain a better user experience, the temperature of the heating element of the smoke generating device 120 can be a smooth curve with respect to time. Therefore, the judgment at multiple time points can confirm the heating element Whether the change of temperature with respect to time conforms to a smooth curve is used to determine the effectiveness of the heating element.

The display unit 114 is configured to connect to the processing unit 113 for data, and display the determination result of the processing unit 113. In this embodiment, the display unit 114 includes a display screen.

The storage unit 115 may be one or more hardware. In this embodiment, the storage unit 115 includes an FTP server.

2A and FIG. 2B exemplarily show the structure diagram of the temperature measurement device in some embodiments and the connection relationship of the electronic components.

In this embodiment, the temperature measuring device 2 includes an assembly box 21, a set of long carriers 22 configured to be inserted in a long cavity (for example, the aforementioned long cavity 121), and four through holes The thermal sensor 27 on the long carrier 22, four thermal conductive sheets 23 attached to the outer surface of the long carrier 22, four signal converters 24 on the assembly box 21, one on the The communication module 25 of the assembly box 21 and a user input and output unit 26 located in the assembly box 21 are exposed. The number of the thermal sensor 27, the thermal conductive sheet 23, and the signal converter 24 is not limited to this embodiment, and should be changed according to actual requirements.

The signal converter 24 is electrically connected to the thermal sensor 27 respectively, and is configured to digitize the sensing signal from the thermal sensor 27. In this embodiment, the signal converter 24 is MAX6675. In other implementation aspects, the signal converter may be MAX31855.

The communication module 25 is data-connected to the signal converter 24 and a processing unit (for example, the processing unit 113), and is configured to transmit the digitized sensing signal from the signal converter 24 to the processing unit. In other words, the processing unit is data-connected to the signal converter 24 through the communication module 25. In this embodiment, the communication module includes a WIFI communication circuit ESP8266.

The user input and output unit 26 is data-connected to the communication module 25, is configured to generate an indication output indicating the working state of the communication module 25, and is configured for manual operation to switch the working state of the communication module 25 . In this embodiment, the user input and output unit 26 includes a switch 261 for manual operation, a light emitting diode module 262 and a display screen 263. The switch includes a button. In one case, when the button is operated, the working state of the communication module 25 is switched between operating and stopping. In one case, when the working state of the communication module 25 is operating, the light emitting diode module 262 can emit green visible light, and the display screen 263 Text such as "Connected" can be displayed.

FIG. 3 exemplarily shows the structure diagram of the long carrier 31, the thermal sensor 32, and the thermal conductive sheet 33 in some embodiments. In the example of FIG. 3, the long carrier 31 is assembled to be inserted in the long cavity (for example, the long cavity 121). The long carrier 31 is formed with a cavity 311 and a plurality of through holes 312 communicating with the cavity 311. In this embodiment, the through holes 312 are arranged in the length direction of the long carrier 31. In other embodiments, the through holes 312 may be spirally distributed on the outer surface of the long carrier 31.

The thermal sensor 32 is disposed on the long carrier 31 and has a sensing end 321 and two metal wires 322 respectively. In this embodiment, the metal wire 322 is welded to form the sensing end 321 at the end. The sensing ends 321 are exposed on the outer surface of the elongated carrier 31 and are spaced apart from each other in the length direction of the elongated carrier 31. In this embodiment, the thermal sensor is a temperature measuring wire, specifically, the thermal sensor is a Type-K thermocouple (type-K thermocouple); in other embodiments, the thermal sensor It can be a resistance temperature detector or a thermistor, and it can be used with an appropriate signal conversion module to achieve temperature measurement. In this embodiment, the sensing end 321 of the thermal sensor 32 is exposed and fixed on the outer surface of the elongated carrier 31 by being adhered by a thermally conductive adhesive (not shown).

Four thermally conductive sheets 33 are attached around the outer surface of the long carrier 31, and are spaced apart from each other in the length direction of the long carrier 31, and respectively cover the sensing of the thermal sensor 32端部321. In this embodiment, the thermally conductive sheet is copper foil. In other embodiments, the thermal conductive sheet 33 may be a structure made of a material with good thermal conductivity (for example, a thermal conductivity greater than 400 W/mK). In the example of FIG. 3, in order to facilitate understanding, a part of the rightmost thermal conductive sheet 33 is removed so as to present a structure shielded by the thermal conductive sheet 33.

FIG. 4 exemplarily shows the structure diagram of the long carrier 41, the thermal conductive sheet 42 and the smoke generating device 43 in some embodiments. In the example of FIG. 4, the smoke generating device 43 is formed with a The long chamber 431 has four heating elements 432 spaced apart from each other. The heating element 432 is used to heat a smoke generating source (not shown in the figure) contained in a long cavity 431. The source of smoke generation may be a cigarette. The shape of the long carrier 41 matches the long cavity 431 of the smoke generating device 43. The distance between the thermal conductive sheets 42 is close to the distance between the heating elements 432.

With the structure of FIG. 4, when the long carrier 41 of the temperature measuring device is inserted into the long cavity 431, the sensing end (for example, the thermal sensor 32) of the thermal sensor (for example, the thermal sensor 32) For example, the sensing end 321) respectively corresponds to the heating element 432 of the smoke generating device 43. In this case, the temperature measuring device can be used to measure the temperature of the four heating elements 432 in the smoke generating device 43.

Figure 5 shows a flowchart of a temperature sensing method implemented by some exemplary temperature sensing systems according to the present disclosure.

First, as in the procedure S501, a scanning device 51 scans a barcode of a specific temperature measuring device 52 and a barcode of a corresponding smoke generating device (for example, the smoke generating device 43). The scanning device 51 may be a Bluetooth scanning gun.

In procedure S502, the processing unit 52 controls the software interface displayed by the user output unit (for example, the user output unit 114) according to the barcode scanned by the scanning device 51, and the image corresponding to the barcode of the temperature measuring device 52 appears orange .

FIG. 6 illustrates some exemplary software interfaces 6 according to the present disclosure. The software interface includes a plurality of images 61 respectively corresponding to a plurality of temperature measuring devices.

As in the procedure S503, the switch of the temperature measuring device 52 is manually operated to make the communication module of the temperature measuring device 52 operate in the operating state.

In step S504, the temperature measuring device 52 transmits the digitized sensing signal to the processing unit 53. In this procedure, the smoke generating device starts to heat up and the temperature measuring device 52 has been inserted into the smoke generating device.

In procedure S505, the processing unit 53 receives the digitized data from the temperature measuring device 52 Sense the signal.

In procedure S506, the processing unit 53 generates a temperature graph according to the digitized sensing signal.

Referring to FIG. 6, in the example of FIG. 6, the temperature curve diagram 62 describes four temperature versus time curves 621, respectively corresponding to the four heating plates of the smoke generating device.

In step S507, the processing unit 53 stores the digitized sensing signal in a storage unit (for example, the storage unit 115).

In procedure S508, the processing unit 53 determines whether the temperature of each heating element is within a plurality of predetermined temperature intervals at a plurality of time points according to the digitized sensing signal. It is worth noting that, in order to obtain a better user experience, the temperature of the heating element of the smoke generating device can be a smooth curve with respect to time. Therefore, judging at multiple time points can confirm the temperature of the heating element Whether the change with respect to time conforms to a smooth curve is used to determine the effectiveness of the heating element.

FIG. 7 is provided to assist in understanding the conditions determined by the processing unit 53 in the procedure S508. In the example presented in FIG. 7, the processing unit 53 judges when the time is the 40th, 80th, 120th, 160th, 200th, and 240th seconds, respectively. Taking the judgment at the 40th second as an example, condition 1 can set the interval between 140 and 160 degrees C as the predetermined temperature interval, and the processing unit 53 judges that the corresponding temperature of the heating element is about 150 degrees at the 40th second (the 40th temperature) C, it is determined that the corresponding heating element is indeed within the corresponding predetermined temperature interval at the 40th second, and condition 1 is satisfied. Similarly, the processing unit 53 can determine whether the temperature of the corresponding heating element is within the corresponding predetermined temperature interval at the 40th, 80th, 120th, 160th, 200th, and 240th seconds, respectively.

The sequence of the procedures S506 to S508 is not limited to this embodiment, and can be adjusted according to actual needs.

In procedure S509, the processing unit 53 controls the user output unit (for example, the user output unit 114) to display the determination result. In some cases, in S509, for each heating element, if judged If the result is yes, the image (such as image 61) corresponding to the barcode on the software interface displayed by the user output unit appears green, otherwise, it appears red. Following the previous example, when the processing unit 53 determines that the temperatures of all the heating elements are within the corresponding predetermined temperature range in the 40th, 80th, 120th, 160th, 200th, and 240th seconds respectively (satisfying conditions 1 to 6) At this time, the image corresponding to the barcode of the temperature measuring device 52 in the software interface displayed by the user output unit (such as the user output unit 114) appears green.

FIGS. 8A and 8B exemplarily show the structural diagrams of the long carrier 81, the thermal sensor 82 and the thermal conductive sheet 83 in another embodiment. Fig. 8A is a front view similar to that of Fig. 3, and Fig. 8B is a right side view. The thermal sensor 32, which is different from the example shown in FIG. 3 (the previous embodiment), is inserted into the cavity 311 of the tubular elongated carrier 31. In the example shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, four The two thermal sensors 82 are respectively embedded in the four long grooves 811 formed on the long carrier 81, and the sensing ends of the thermal sensors 82 are also covered by the thermal conductive sheet 83.

In summary, when the temperature measuring device 111/2/52 is inserted in the long chamber 121/431, the sensing end 321 of the thermal sensor 27/32/82 /821 corresponds to the heating element 43/83 of the smoke generating device 120/43, so that when the heating element 43/83 is heated, the sensing signal generated by the thermal sensor 27/32/82 It can be used to determine the effectiveness of the heating element 43/83 of the smoke generating device 120/43. In addition, the communication module 25 can send back the sensing signal to the processing unit 113/53 through the WIFI wireless network and the router 112 to determine the pros and cons of the smoke generating device 120/43, and can save data to achieve product traceability.

However, the above are only examples of the present invention. When the scope of implementation of the present invention cannot be limited by this, all simple equivalent changes and modifications made according to the scope of the patent application of the present invention and the content of the patent specification still belong to This invention patent covers the scope.

31: Long load

311: Chamber

312: Through hole

32: Thermal sensor

321: sensing end

322: wire

33: Thermal conductive sheet

Claims (10)

A temperature measurement system is used to measure the temperature of a plurality of heating elements in a smoke generating device, the plurality of heating elements are spaced apart from each other in the length direction of the long chamber of the smoke generating device, the A plurality of heating elements are used to heat a smoke generating source contained in a long chamber, and the system includes: a temperature measuring device, including: a long carrier, assembled to be inserted in the long chamber And a plurality of thermal sensors, disposed on the elongated carrier, each has a sensing end, the sensing end exposed on the outer surface of the elongated carrier, and in the elongated The carrier is spaced apart from each other in the length direction; wherein, when the temperature measuring device is inserted in the long chamber, the sensing ends of the thermal sensor respectively correspond to the smoke generation The heating element of the device. The temperature measurement system according to claim 1, wherein the elongated carrier is formed with a cavity and a plurality of through holes communicating with the cavity; wherein the thermal sensor penetrates the In the cavity, the sensing ends of the thermal sensor are exposed to the carrier through the through holes, respectively. The temperature measurement system according to claim 2, wherein the through holes are arranged in the length direction of the elongated carrier. The temperature measurement system according to claim 1, wherein the sensing end of the thermal sensor is adhered to the outer surface of the long carrier by thermally conductive glue. The temperature measurement system according to claim 1, wherein the temperature measurement device further includes a plurality of thermally conductive sheets attached to the outer surface of the elongated carrier, and the thermally conductive sheets are mounted on the elongated carrier. The pieces are spaced apart from each other in the length direction and respectively cover the sensing end of the thermal sensor. The temperature measurement system according to claim 1, wherein the temperature measurement device further includes a plurality of signal converters, which are respectively electrically connected to the thermal sensors, and are configured to transfer the signals from the thermal sensors The sensing signal is digitized. The temperature measurement system according to claim 6, further comprising a processing unit configured to receive the digitized sensing signal from the signal converter, and determine each heating according to the digitized sensing signal Whether the temperature of the element is within a predetermined temperature interval at a time point; and/or determine whether the temperature of each heating element is within a plurality of predetermined temperature intervals at a plurality of time points according to the digitized sensing signal. The temperature measurement system according to claim 7, wherein the processing unit is configured to generate a temperature graph of the temperature of the heating element versus time according to the digitized sensing signal; and according to the temperature Whether the graph is smooth or not determines the effectiveness of the heating element. The temperature measurement system according to claim 7, further comprising a display unit, configured to connect to the processing unit for data to display the determination result of the processing unit. The temperature measurement system according to claim 7, wherein the temperature measurement device further includes a communication module, which is data-connected to the signal converter and the processing unit, and is configured to transfer data from the signal converter The digitized sensing signal is transmitted to the processing unit.

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